MARK FOO 1958-1994

Born in Singapore to a Chinese photojournalist for the U.S. Information Agency he relocated to Hawaii at age 4. Foo spent his early childhood surfing the South Shore of O'ahu. His family moved several times during his adolescence, but Foo ultimately returned to Hawaii just before finishing high school. He continued surfing throughout his teen years and in 1977 he joined a professional surfing tour, the IPS World Tour. In the early 1980s, Foo quit the IPS World Tour, stopped competing, and began surfing Waimea Bay, a famous big wave surfing spot on the North Shore of O'ahu. Foo's passion for surfing big waves led him to surf larger and larger swells.

On December 23, 1994, Mark Foo died in a surfing accident at Mavericks, a big wave break off the coast of Northern California. During take-off on an 18 foot wave, Foo experienced a seemingly innocuous wipeout which resulted in his drowning. Foo's death shook the big wave surfing community, as one of its pioneers had died. On December 30th, over 700 people arrived at Waimea Bay in Hawaii for Mark's funeral. Approximately 150 surfers paddled into the Bay and formed a large circle. One of the participants, who was carrying a container with Foo's ashes, paddled into the center of the circle and placed the ashes into the ocean.

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